New York: Two Pakistani brothers were extradited to New York on Friday to face charges that they conspired to smuggle heroin into America and sell missile launchers to Colombian rebels, prosecutors said.
Hameed Chishti, 47, nicknamed Benny, and Wahab Chishti, 49, also known as Angel, were flown to the United States from Spain more than a year after their arrest at American officials' request.
If convicted on all charges, they face between 25 years to life behind bars in an American prison.
They are charged with conspiring to commit narco-terrorism, to provide support to the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), to import heroin into the United States and unlawfully sell missile launchers.
Prosecutors allege that the brothers agreed to sell heroin to people they believed were FARC, but who were actually undercover informants, thinking it would be smuggled into the United States.
In April 2014, the Chishtis allegedly arranged delivery of a one-kilo heroin sample to presumed FARC cronies in the Netherlands.
They then agreed to sell them weapons after the alleged FARC members claimed to want to buy Russian-made surface-to-air missiles to protect their drug-trafficking empire in Colombia.
After Hameed Chishti forwarded bank account details for payment for the missiles, the brothers were arrested in June 2014 in Spain, where they lived, prosecutors said.
They appeared before a US magistrate on Friday as prosecutors seek the extradition of two more defendants from Spain -- delayed because they are seeking asylum.
The Chishtis "illustrate once again that drug trafficking and terror conspiracies often intersect, support, and facilitate each other's dangerous and potential deadly plots," said Mark Hamlet, the Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in charge.
The United States declared FARC a terrorist organization in 1997.
Hameed Chishti, 47, nicknamed Benny, and Wahab Chishti, 49, also known as Angel, were flown to the United States from Spain more than a year after their arrest at American officials' request.
If convicted on all charges, they face between 25 years to life behind bars in an American prison.
Prosecutors allege that the brothers agreed to sell heroin to people they believed were FARC, but who were actually undercover informants, thinking it would be smuggled into the United States.
Advertisement
They then agreed to sell them weapons after the alleged FARC members claimed to want to buy Russian-made surface-to-air missiles to protect their drug-trafficking empire in Colombia.
Advertisement
They appeared before a US magistrate on Friday as prosecutors seek the extradition of two more defendants from Spain -- delayed because they are seeking asylum.
Advertisement
The United States declared FARC a terrorist organization in 1997.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Joe Biden Is The Best Person To Take On Trump, Says His Campaign 7.4- Magnitude Earthquake Hits Northern Chile Biden Nears Crunch Point As Pressure Grows To Drop Out Of White House Race Bangladesh Imposes Curfew, Deploys Military As 105 Die In Protests "Jindal Group Executive Showed Porn, Groped Me On Flight": Woman To NDTV Over 300 Indian Students Return Home As 105 Bangladeshis Killed In Protests Joe Biden Is The Best Person To Take On Trump, Says His Campaign Wife Among Two Jailed For Life For Man's Murder In Gurugram: Cops 1,100 Flights Cancelled In US As Microsoft Outage Disrupts Operations Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.